Locomotive piston rod crosshead



Aug. 14, 1934. V SHARP 1,969,763

LOCOMOTIVE PISTON ROD CROSSHEAD Filed March 3, 1930 2 Sheets-Sheet l 1934- J. c. SHARP LOCOMOTIVE PISTON ROD CROSSHEAD Filed March 3, 1930 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 gwuentoz (70in: 619.5924 Sharp WW Patented Aug. 14, 1934 PATENT @FFECE I 1,969,763 LOCOMOTIVE PIs'roNnoD CROSSHEAD John Cessna Sharp, Chattanooga, Tenn, as-

signor to Nathan Manufacturing Company, New York, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application March a, 1930,.Serial No. 432,901

11 Claims.

" iii of such nature that the right-angularly disposed faces of both the top and bottom guides are supplied with oil from a reservoir or reservoirs formed in the cross head and fed to'the faces to.

be lubricated continuously but in minute amounts 10. through the medium of fixedly secured rigid oil attracting and conducting elements whose inner end portions are immersed in the oil in said reservoir or reservoirs and whose outer'end portions are in contact with the surfaces of the guides to be lubricated, said elements being characterized not only in that there is a continuous feed of the oil-in minute amounts, but also in that they operate to prevent the feeding of sand, grit and the like tothe surface at which the oil is to be applied. This object, and also other objects which will be apparent to those persons familiar with the invention and with piston rod crosshead lubrication, are well accomplished by the construction shown in the accompanying drawingsillustrative of a preferred constructional embodiment of the invention.

In said drawings:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation showing a piston rod cross head and the top and bottom guides therefor, the said cross head being constructed in accordance with the preferred embodiment of this invention; V

Fig. 2 is a vertical section on a much larger scale than Fig.1, taken on the "line 22 of gibs and guides, and the oil attracting and con- 90 Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a verticalsection takenonthe line- 33 of Fig. 1; v

Fig. 4 is a vertical sectionon the-line-4-4 of Fig. 2; and

Fig. 5 is a horizontal the line 5-5 of Fig. 4.

A typical structure to which this invention relates includes a fixed top guide member A and a fixed bottom guide member'B, between which the piston rod C of the engine piston, not shown, reciprocates, said rod having at its outer end a cross head 1) whose top and bottom are provided with shoes or gibs D. Each shoe or gib includes a horizontal wall having a surface 10 slidably 5 engaged with the upper or lower horizontal surface (a or b) of the corresponding guide member (A or B) and each also includes a pair of flanges 11, 11 whose inner surfaces 11, 11 extend section, looking down, on

from opposite ends of the wall 10 and are slid- '5 ably engaged with the opposite vertical side surfaces a. or b of the corresponding guides, A or B. These shoes or gibs thus co-operate with the guides in guiding the piston and its rod in their reciprocations. The connecting rod G which forms no part of the instant invention, has one 0 of its ends journaled to the said cross head.

To lubricate the right angularly disposed surfaces of the guide members with which the bodies and the flanges of the shoes or gibs are in contact, in a most efiective and economical manner 5 is a leading purpose of this invention.

. To this end, according to the instant invention, each shoe or gib D is formed to provide one or more oil reservoirs 12 in its body portion and also to provide oil reservoirs 13, 13 in its legs or flanges 1'1, 11. The ends of each reservoir 12 have communication with the corresponding reservoirs 13, 13 through ports 14, 14; It ispreferred that these reservoirs be at each end of each shoe or gib. 'An appropriate 1111311 her of oil attracting and conducting elements E-flve inthis instance, arranged in two groups of which the elements of onegroup are staggered with relation to the elements of the otherextend from each wall 10" aridthrough the corre go spending reservoir 12 and wall 10 and an 'appropriate number of similar oil attracting and conducting elements F extend from the inner surface 11" of the outer wall ofeach flange 11 and through the corresponding reservoir 13 and g5 inner wall to the inner surface 11. The oil attracting and conducting elements E feed the oil from the reservoir or reservoirs 12 to the contacting surfaces 10' and a or b of the shoes or ducting elements F feed oil from the reservoirs 13 through the inner walls of the flanges and to the contacting surfaces 11 and a or b of said flanges and shoes or gibs,- respectively. The outer end of each. element'E, F is tightly se- 95.

cured in the corresponding wall and its inner end abuts tightly against the opposite wall, as

shown.

The oil attracting and conducting elements employed byme are in the form of wooden plugs 1-90 of special nature, characterized by their ability to feed the oilunfailingly in minute quantities automatically to the surfaces to be lubricated and also by their ability to prevent the passage of sand, grit and the like, with the oil'to the said surfaces and by absence of liability of the formation of carbon or'the like at their oil discharge ends, even though they are formed of wood which in its natural condition contains resins.

might prove to be exceedingly inconvenient in the operation of a train, or else result in damage due to lack of lubrication. .Inthe latter connection it will be noted that depletonof the oil in the reservoir might well pass unnoticed until serious consequences have resulted, if such depletion occurs during the interim between-stations at which stops sufliciently long to permit re-examination of the surfaces to be lubricated is permissible. that there be an unfailing supply of filtered or strained oil to the relatively'moving surfaces in contact with each other and that the oil be used so economically that the periods requiring its replenishment may be prolonged as much as is practicable without danger of injuryto said surfaces. These considerations. have been met by the formation of each gib or shoe with the described reservoirs in its body and legs or flanges andthe provision ofoil attracting and conducting elements leading from said'reservoirs to the surfaces of said body and legs or flanges in contact with the irightsangularly disposed surfaces of the corresponding guide .members A or B, and which elements have the characteristics hereinbefore. set forth, r

. The white pine which I use, and hence prefer, is typical of soft non-porous resinous woods which in the raw state or natural condition is such a poor conductor. of oil as to. be. impracticable for use but when it has been subjected to. the'special treatment, presently described, it becomes .a perfeet. conductor. of lubricating. oil and one possessing .very important advantages over capillary.

oil feeders. formed of wood or woody materials hitherto employed or suggested; since it results. in a great saving in the amount of oil used, does not. clog orfill up with impurities, does. not. permit sand, grit or the like to pass withthe oil tov the surface tov be lubricated, and shows. no tendency to glaze over or to. the formation of carbon on its discharge end, and will'l'ast and function indefinitely.

The speeialtreatment referred to includes. the subjection'of rounded strips of the wood from which the plugs are to. beformed, or the. plugs which have been cut from said strips.preferably the latter-toa bath of heated lubricating oil. This boiling of the strips orplugs in lubricating oil may belcontinued until the strips or plugs drop to the bottom of the bath, thereby showing that they have become thoroughly impregnated with the oil, but it has beenxmy practice to. re-

mcve the strips or plugs from the hot bath when the agitation of the oil, whichensues when the strips or plugs are placed in the bath and presumably is caused by the expulsion of gaseous and liquid material from the strips. of plugs) subsides and thence to place said strips. in a separate bath of unheated oiluntil they have, become. thoroughly impregnated with the oil, as shown by" theirdropping to. the. bottom ofthe. bath. Those which thus drop are in condition to readily: at;-

In other words, it is important.

eas es tract and feed the oil to the surfaces to be lubricated in the exact amounts required for proper lubrication and without any waste of oil. Plugs or strips which continue to float upon the surface of the oil should be discarded because of the inferiority thereof in comparison with those which sink to-the bottom of the bath. Care should be used ,inthe selection of the wood and plugs, since a close straight grained wood produces the largest proportion of perfect oil conductors and since strips cut from the same block of wood and plugs cut from the same strips cometimes differ in their oil conductive qualities after the treatment herein described: but those which sink canbe-confidently relied upon to give per- .fectly satisfactory service in use, while those which continue to. float cannot be so relied upon.

-It-ispreferred to supply the reservoirs with oil through appropriately arranged fittings, one of which is indicated at 15 in Fig. 3, of the type having a valve which is opened under apredetermined pressure; The so-called Zerk fitting is typical of a fitting suitable for the purpose and since these fittingsare known, a detailed. description or illustration thereof is unnecessary.

The employment of a pressure fitting through which oil is supplied to the reservoir permits the use of a centralized control system by'which the oil in the reservoirs may be replaced under control of the engineer at the same time .he is oiling other parts of the locomotive; In these systems, itis possible to produce an enormous pressure withinthe reservoirs wlL'ch might, unless corrected, be sufficient to force the. feeders out of their respective seats notwithstanding that in practice said feeders. arefinse'rted tightly and under pressure. in their seats To'pobviate this possibilityanappropriate number of. suitably ar-. ranged vent ports 16 having vent valves 17 adapt ed to open under predetermined pressure .isipro vided, the. pressure at. which the said valves should open being, of course, below that at which the plugs E or F. would be loosened. At least some.

of the air whichis'entrapped in :thei'reservoirs,

and all of which air must escape: before the reservoirs can be completely filled with oil, maybe vented through the plugs when theoil is supplied under heavypressure, and the remainder through the vent portor ports. If the oil'is' supplied otherwise than under heavy pressure, the

air will be vented through the-vent ports 16, pro-.

vided the latter are closed by valves capable of operating atlow pressure, respectively; it bein understood'that if a pressure system be not em.--

ployed air may 7 ct escape through the plugs during refilling operations.

Having thus described the invention what, I

believe to be new and claim in my inventionis:

l. A longitudinal shoe or gibi tor an engine cross head, including a bodypart and spaced flanges, adapted respectively to ,slidably engage a horizontal part and oppositely disposed vertical sides of a guiding; member for the cross head, said body part and flanges being formed to prov-ide an oil reservoir in each, which said reservoirs have commu-nication'w-ith each other, and rigid oil attractingand conduct- 1 ing elements extending from the reservoirs to the surfaces of the interiors of the shoe or; gib' pre sented to said sides and horizontal part of the;

guiding member-, each of said elements being tightly fitted at oneendin the to feed oil; continuously means through correspcnding; wall of the shoe or gib and characterized its; ability andin minute.

outwardly from'its reservoir to the-surface to be lubricated by said element; and to prevent the feeding of' sand, grit and the like torsaid surface.

2. A longitudinal shoe or gib for an engine cross head, including a body' part and spaced flanges, adapted respectively to slidably engage a horizontal part and oppositely disposed vertical sides of a guiding member for the cross head, saidbody, part being formed to provide an oil reservoir in each of its ends and said flanges being formed to provide oil reservoirs, means through which the reservoirs in the flanges have communica-. tion with the reservoirs in the body part and rigid oil attracting and conducting elements extending from the interiors of the reservoirs to the surfaces of the shoe or gib presented to said horizontal part and sides of the guiding member, each of said elements being tightly fitted at one end in the corresponding wall of the shoe or gib and being formed to feed oil continuously and in minute amounts, outwardly from its reservoir to the surface to be lubricated by said feeder and to prevent the feeding of sand, grit and the like to said surface.

3. A structure according to claim 1, in which the oil reservoirs are arranged only at opposite ends of the body part and each flange.

4. A longitudinal shoe or gib for an engine cross head, including a body part and spaced flanges, adapted respectively to slidably engage a horizontal part and oppositely disposed vertical sides of the guiding member for the cross head, said body part and flanges being formed to provide oil reservoirs having communication with each other, and oil attracting and conducting elements extending from said reservoirs in the body part and flanges substantially to the surfaces to be lubricated.

5. A shoe or gib for an engine cross head, having spaced longitudinal flanges at its opposite sides, each flange including an inner and an outer member spaced from each other and forming walls of an oil reservoir in said flange, a body part including an inner member spanning the space between the inner members of the flanges,

the body part also including an outer member spaced from its inner member, the latter outer and inner members forming opposite Walls of an oil reservoir in the body part, the shoe or gib also including ports through which the oil reservoir in the body part has communication with the oil reservoirs in the flanges, and rigid oil attracting and conducting elements whose inner ends are in contact respectively with the inner surfaces of the outer walls of the flanges and body part and which extend thence across the corresponding reservoirs and to the outer surfaces of the inner members of said flanges and body part, said elements having their outer end portions tightly fitted in the corresponding inner walls of the flanges and body part.

6. A structure according to claim 5, in which there is a group or set of the said oil attracting and conducting elements in each of the said reservoirs.

7. A shoe or gib for an engine cross head, having spaced longitudinal flanges at its opposite sides, each flange including an inner and an outer member spaced from each other and forming walls of an oil reservoir in said flange, a body part including an inner member spanning the space between the inner members of the flanges, the body part also including an outer member spaced from its inner member, the latter inner and outer members forming opposite walls of an oil reservoir in the body part; the shoe or gib also including-ports through which the oil reservoir in the body part has communication with the oil reservoirsthe flanges, and rigid oil attracting and conducting elements whose inner ends are in contact respectively with the inner surfaces of the outer walls of-the flanges and body part and which extend thence across the corresponding reservoirs and to the outer surfaces of the inner members of said flanges and body. part, said. ele-'- ments having their outer end portions tightly fltted in the corresponding inner Walls of the flanges and body part.

8. A shoe or gib for an engine cross head, comprising a body part having an oil reservoir at each of .its opposite ends and also having a pair of flanges at opposite sides of each of its said ends, each flange being hollow to provide an oil reservoir therein and the shoe or gib having ports through which its oil reservoirs in the body part respectively have communication with the reservoirs in the pairs of flanges, said body part and flanges adapted respectively to slidably engage a horizontal part and oppositely disposed vertical sides of a guiding member for the cross head, and rigid oil attracting and conducting elements for feeding oil outwardly from the reservoirs in the body part and from the reservoirs in the flanges to the surfaces of said body and flanges to be lubricated, each of said oil attracting and conducting elements being formed to feed oil continuously and in minute amounts and to prevent the feeding of sand, grit and the like, to the surfaces to be lubricated.

9. An engine cross head provided with a pair of shoes or gibs respectively arranged at the top and bottom of the cross head, each shoe or gib having oil reservoirs in its opposite ends and each having each of its said opposite ends provided with a pair of flanges respectively arranged at opposite sides thereof, each of said flanges having an internal oil reservoir in communication with the adjacent end of the first mentioned reservoir in the corresponding end of the shoe or gib, said body parts respectively slidably engaging horizontal parts of guide members for the cross head and said pairs of flanges respectively slidably engaging the opposite vertical sides of said guiding members, and rigid oil attracting and conducting elements for feeding oil outwardly from the reservoirs in the body parts and from the reservoirs in the several flanges to the surfaces of said body parts and flanges which are to contact with the horizontal and vertical parts of the guides, each of said oil attracting and conducting elements being formed to feed oil continuously and in minute amounts and to prevent the feeding of sand, grit and the like, to the surfaces to be lubricated.

10. The combination of a pair of spaced guide members and a cross head reciprocatorily mounted between said guide members, each of said guide members having angularly disposed guiding surfaces and said cross head comprising a body having a pair of shoes or gibs secured thereto and provided with angularly disposed portions to engage the angularly disposed surfaces of the corresponding guide members, the angularly disposed portions of each shoe or gib being formed to provide internal oil reservoirs which have communication with each other and oil attracting and conducting plugs extending from said reservoirs and having their ends adjacent the surfaces to be lubricated tightly fitted in the corresponding part of the shoe or gib, said oil attracting and conducting plugs being adapted to feed oi1,..con-'.

tinuously and .in minute amounts, outwardly from.

the reservoir to the surfacesto be lubricated and to prevent theieeding of sand, grit andthe like, to said surfaces; 1 V V .t

11. The combination of a pair of spacedzguide' members and a cross head reciprocatori1ymount-* ed between said guide members, each of. said guide members having angularly disposed guiding surfaces and said cross head comprisingra body having a pair of shoesorigibs whose opposite ends project in opposite directions from the sides of the body and have angularly disposed inner walls engaging the angularly disposed guidingsurfaces of the guides, each projecting end of each shoe or gib being formed to provide flanges, andsaid JOHN CESSNA SHARP. 

